


Returned Whole (For the Most Part)

by mitchello



Series: Wayne Pack 2020 [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Dick Grayson is a girl, Gen, No Sex, Pack Bonding, Pack Dynamics, Pack Family, Protective Bruce Wayne, but wolf-ish, jason Todd is a good bro, not a/b/o
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:00:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23609551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitchello/pseuds/mitchello
Summary: Dick Grayson appears at the Manor door steps after pulling a disappearing act.Or: Welcoming home the prodigal daughter.Or: Sleeping in the den has a deeper meaning and the tea and quilts are mandatory.
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Everyone, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson
Series: Wayne Pack 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1699414
Comments: 4
Kudos: 171





	Returned Whole (For the Most Part)

The ring of the doorbell at Wayne Manor was unexpected. Bruce was walking Jason to the door when the chimes sounded. 

Dinner had gone unexpectedly well. Or well enough that Jason hadn’t attempted to stab Tim once. But dinner was over and nobody else was expected at the manor. 

Jason sent a questioning look to Bruce who responded by moving his shoulder in the slightest of shrugs. Jason decided that he liked this interruption because it meant he and Bruce could forgo any awkward goodbyes. Jason could just slip past the surprise guest and head back to one of his safehouses for the night. Jason swung the door open, ready to make his escape, but the familiar face stopped him dead in his tracks. 

Dick Grayson stood at the doorstep with one of her arms crossed over the front of her body clutching onto her other wrist. Her skin was more tan than the last time Jason had seen her but her eyes looked unfocused. She wore loose pants and a sleeveless turtleneck. Jason breathed in, expecting the comforting scent of pack, but was overwhelmed by two other scents. One scent both Jason and Bruce recognized. 

Bruce immediately pulled Dick into the manor and shut the door. 

Jason would have mourned his lost opportunity to smoothly leave if he weren’t so worried about his older sister. The backed into the heart of the house. 

“Why do you smell like al Ghul?” Bruce stepped away to put more space between them like the scent lingering on Dick's skin was personally offensive. 

Dick was saved from answering when Alfred appeared. The older wolf gave Dick a purposeful once over. “Miss Richard, must I remind you where the spare key is kept?”

“Sorry, Alf.” Dick attempted an apologetic smile, obviously chastised for ringing the bell. “It’s just been a bit.”

That was an understatement. Nobody had heard from Dick in months. 

Abnormal for Dick because even when Jason was Robin and she was off with the Titans, Dick still managed to find time to come home to the Manor, fight with Bruce, and re-absorb the pack scent. 

Jason knew Bruce had been looking into her disappearance but hadn’t put all his efforts into it. Bruce had Gotham to take care of, after all, and Dick was fully capable of taking care of herself. 

It didn’t look like Dick had done a good job of taking care of herself. She was less muscular and even though the tan of her skin made her look healthy, she still had bags under her eyes. 

It looked like Dick had taken a three month vacation where she sat in the sun all day and never slept at night. 

“And to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” Alfred asked, cutting through to what everyone wanted to know. 

“Uh.” Dick sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. “I was hoping that I could crash here tonight.”

Jason knew from Bruce’s minimum search that Dick hadn’t been making payments on her apartment. She probably had to come here.

Tim popped his head out from a doorway. 

“Dick?” He moved the rest of the way in, tablet clutched at his side. 

“Hey there, Baby Bird.” She reached out and scent marked him. 

Tim wrinkled his nose at her. “You smell like al Guhl.” 

Bless Alfred. The man noticed that Bruce was about to give Dick the third degree and kindly pulled the conversation back to him. “I will prepare your room for you.”

With Alfred playing as mediator, Jason decided to make his escape. He’d get all the important information from Tim tomorrow. Jason turned and slowly started making his way back to the door. 

He was still tuned in on the conversation behind him. 

“No thanks, Alf. I think I’m going to sleep in the den.”

“Oh. I see. Very well. I’ll prepare the tea.” 

There was a beat of silence. 

Jason reached the doorknob. He was about to twist it when he heard a menacing growl from Bruce.

Jason spun back around in time to see Bruce pull a hand away from near Dick’s shoulder and place it back at his side. 

Dick snarled back with just as much force. 

Jason noticed Tim turn to look from the second step of the stairs. He must have decided to leave the same time Jason had. 

“Bruce, what the fuck?” Jason found himself saying. 

Bruce opted to ignore Jason but whispered an apology to Dick.

“It’s fine, B. Let’s go.” She started off in the direction of the den. Bruce trailed behind her.

Tim and Jason shared a confused look and then simultaneously began their way after their older pack members. 

They stood awkwardly in the archway of the den. Bruce was turning on the TV while Dick popped open the ottoman and started to pull old quilts out. 

Jason hadn’t even known the ottoman could open. 

Bruce sat down into the closest corner seat of the couch and pulled one of the quilts from Dick’s hands. 

“ _Bruce_ ,” His sister whined as she crawled up into the couch, getting under the quilt at the same time. She slid up against Bruce’s side and grabbed the remote from him. 

“Well, go on in.” Alfred appeared behind Jason and Tim carrying a tray. They boys did as they were told and Alfred passed them each a cup of tea. 

Dick took the tray from Alfred as he removed the rest of the quilts from the ottoman and shut it. She then placed the tray on top of it and Alfred sat down next to her. 

Jason realized he’d been out played. Alfred had ensured that he couldn’t leave right away by handing him the tea. 

There was room on the couch but Tim chose the recliner instead and Jason opted to sit on the floor directly in front of Dick. 

His sister put on a nature documentary about the great plains. 

Jason pulled one of the quilts up around himself. It was old, a bit worn, and smelled dusty and floral at the same time. A spark of knowledge caught in the back of Jason’s mind. These were the old Wayne Pack blankets. Some of them generations old with the pack scent well worn into them. 

Behind him, Dick rearranged herself so that her cheek pressed into Bruce’s thigh and her legs spread over Alfred’s lap. She'd stolen the quilt from Bruce completely. 

Jason couldn’t believe it when Alfred set a pillow on top of Dick’s legs and rested his tea on it. 

***

Jason wasn’t sure when he ended up falling asleep but when he woke up both Alfred and Dick were gone. Tim was asleep curled up in the recliner and Bruce was asleep sitting in the same position he was in at the start of the night. 

The floorboard in the hall creaked. That must have been what woke Jason up. 

Dick walked into the den holding a glass of water. She’d showered and changed into one of Bruce’s shirts and Tim’s favorite pajama bottoms. She was trying to smother out the other scents with the pack’s. Her face was contorted with pain until she realized Jason was awake. 

“Can’t sleep?” She asked him quietly. 

“You stepped on the creaky board.”

“Sorry for waking you, Jay.” She bent down to ruffle his hair. 

Jason caught a glimpse of her neck. 

Jason lived in a rough neighborhood before coming into the Wayne pack. His father was a piece of shit and the people around him weren’t much better. Jason was familiar with being bitten. It was an act to enforce hierarchy and submission. A symbol of being bested. Jason had seen some ugly bites in his life. Jason had been bit twice in his life. Both from his father. They were deep and had taken weeks to heal. Jason hadn’t struggled against them. It’s suicide to. If somebody has their teeth in your neck, you better give up. A rule Jason learned at a young age. 

Jason didn’t think Dick ever learned that lesson because the bite on her neck made it look like she had still been fighting the wolf well after they’d clamped their jaw around her throat. It was at least a few days old. The bruising around the punctures were frighteningly bright. 

Jason recalled Bruce’s growl and his hand drawing back. The bite must have been the cause for it. 

Jason half wanted to hunt down whoever had bitten Dick like that. 

He wondered if it was an al Guhl. 

Dick settled back into the couch with Bruce as her pillow. Bruce didn’t even wake up. Was this something they used to do? Before the arguments Jason heard echo through the manor his first few months there.

“Come join?” Dick half asked, half pleaded. 

Jason glanced at Bruce’s lap. Yeah, he wasn’t trying to kill Bruce at the moment but that didn’t mean he wanted to fall asleep on the man. 

Dick saw his dilemma and grabbed one of the pillows from the far end of the couch. She leaned them up against Bruce’s leg. Technically, his head would be on the pillow and not on Bruce. 

Dick’s lip trembled a bit. Jason wasn’t sure if it was fake or on accident. 

God damn performer. 

He climbed up onto the couch. Dick pressed herself against the back to create space for him. It was then that Jason realized Dick was quite literally boxing herself in with her pack. Tim’s recliner was near her feet, Bruce was at her head, and now Jason covered her entire front. 

Jason fell back asleep slowly. His mind gave one last question before he completely drifted off: why was there an unwritten protocol Alfred and Bruce followed when Dick said she was going to sleep in the Den?


End file.
